Ursidae: The Undergraduate Research Journal at the University of Northern Colorado Volume 3 | Number 3 Article 5 January 2014 A "Princely Lady": The Religion, Power and Identity of Anne Boleyn Alexandra Elise Deselms Follow this and additional works at: http://digscholarship.unco.edu/urj Part of the European History Commons Recommended Citation Deselms, Alexandra Elise (2014) "A "Princely Lady": The Religion, Power and Identity of Anne Boleyn," Ursidae: The Undergraduate Research Journal at the University of Northern Colorado: Vol. 3 : No. 3 , Article 5. Available at: http://digscholarship.unco.edu/urj/vol3/iss3/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship & Creative Works @ Digital UNC. It has been accepted for inclusion in Ursidae: The ndeU rgraduate Research Journal at the University of Northern Colorado by an authorized editor of Scholarship & Creative Works @ Digital UNC. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Deselms: A "Princely Lady" Running head: A PRINCELY LADY 1 Abstract Anne Boleyn (c. 1501 – 1536), the second wife of Henry VIII, was an influential and controversial figure in her time and is the subject of intense debate among historians today, not to mention fascination among the general public. Historians are sharply divided and seek to categorize her as either an early Protestant influential at court (historians such as Ives, Warnicke, and Starkey) or ultimately Catholic and passive (Bernard). This thesis moves beyond such polemics by combining a close analysis of documents from the time and the goals of their authors with post-modern approaches to historical biography emphasizing the fluidity of the self.